Fraudulent studies have infiltrated top scientific journals, “leading to thousands of retractions and millions of dollars in lost revenue,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
“Although this large-scale fraud represents a small percentage of submissions to journals, it threatens the legitimacy of the nearly $30 billion academic publishing industry and the credibility of science as a whole,” the article stated.
Wiley, a 217-year-old publisher based in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is slated to close 19 journals, has taken the largest hit, WSJ reported.
The problem is due to paper mills — entities that, “for a price, will list a scientist as an author of a wholly or partially fabricated paper,” WSJ noted. The paper mills then submit the work, “generally avoiding the most prestigious journals in favor of publications such as one-off special editions that might not undergo as thorough a review and where they have a better chance of getting bogus work published.”
And, on the other side, there are motivating factors at play, WSJ noted.
Hellbound and Down 